University Theatre starts subscription sales

Tuesday

May 19, 2009 at 12:01 AM

University Theatre Productions at The University of Texas-Pan American gives Valley audiences a wide variety of quality live-theatre offerings. According to Box Office theatre manager Elva Galvan, season subscription sales are now in full swing.

PASS, Pan American Summer Stock, a Valley tradition since 1973, has two productions scheduled for July. PASS productions are summer, family-centered offerings that provide a wonderful alternative to movies and TV.

Con Mis Manos/With My Hands is a story of a Valley family, written by Misael Martinez. This play runs July 2-5. Like all UTPA Theatre productions, except children’s shows, the play starts at 8 p.m. every night except Sunday. On Sunday, it closes with a 2 p.m. matinee.

The Butler Did It is a comedy about a playwright who is writing a who-dun-it in which all the characters have the last name Butler. It will play July 9-12. These plays, as well as the Main Stage productions, take place in the Albert L. Jeffers Theatre in the Communication Arts Building on campus.

The theatre presents two sets of offerings during the regular academic year, Main Stage and Off Main Stage. Main Stage plays are designed to appeal to the general public. Usually, they are well-known plays that every serious theatre lover should want to know. At times, like this year, a premiere of a new play is also part of the mix.

Off Main Stage includes plays that may be controversial, of limited interest or designed for specific audiences, such as children’s plays. They are not part of the established schedule of productions.

Main Stage starts off its fall season with that classic adaptation of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. This touching story of brotherly love runs October 14-18. It is the perfect way to enjoy a world famous work.

The second production is the premiere of a play by resident faulty playwright Eric Wiley. Titled The Red and the Blue, Wiley’s work looks at the polarization of points of view in contemporary America. Set in South Texas, the story has characters of unlike mind coexisting in a series of dramatic and comic scenes.

Noises Off, the famous farce about trying to mount a play while everything that can go wrong does, runs March 3-7. A funny film, it is even more hilarious live, when the audience knows there is no possibility of a second take if things go awry.

Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare’s comedy about the battle of the sexes, closes the season April 21-25. Guest director Dr. Jack Carroll, will stage the classic so it takes place in the Rio Grande Valley.

Season subscribers pay for just the four Main Stage season productions. However their subscriber card allows them to attend free to all the other offerings, such as PASS, and Off Main Stage, that the theatre presents For a season brochure, call the Box Office at 381-3581 or e-mail the theatre manager, galvane@utpa.edu, to leave your name and mailing address.